 The Clarinet BBoard
|
Author: Melanie
Date: 2001-06-15 14:07
Hello everyone!
After a rehearsal the other night, I went to swab out my clarinet with my *silk* swab, and it proceeded to get stuck in the upper joint. Any tips on getting it out? I tried searching past posts and have only found that one should purchase silk over cotton swabs, for silk does not jam as easily. I did that, and it still got stuck!
Help!
Melanie
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Dee
Date: 2001-06-15 14:18
You might try to pull it back out from the end it went in if you can get hold of it.
If it's wadded up in a ball, you might try pushing it back out using with a pencil or something (depending on where it's stuck).
Otherwise take it to someone more experienced or even your local repair shop.
Did it hang up on the register tube? Or is it all balled up? If you let a swab go into your instrument all balled up, it doesn't make much difference what it is made of, it will have a very high chance of getting stuck. Any time you swab out a horn, make sure that the swab is smoothed out and hanging free before you swab.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Benny
Date: 2001-06-15 14:25
You should take it to a repair shop; most repair shops have tools for removing swabs. If you need to get it out now, then get a thin dowel rod and try to poke it down but DO NOT FORCE IT! If it does not move easily then stop and take it to the shop.
The same thing happened to my sax once. My swab got stuck after a concert and I needed it the next day, so there was no time to take it to a shop. I got a dowel rod and gently pushed it back down while being careful not to scratch the bore. My hands are pretty big so I had to get my sister to reach down and get it.
Good luck!
Benny
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Ed
Date: 2001-06-15 14:47
I have seen people remove swabs by gently twisting it to compress it, at which point it comes out easily. My repaiman showed me a tool he made which essentially is a thin rod with a screw on one end. He puts it into the end from which it was inserted screws it to catch the fabric and pulls it back out. The only thing to watch is that you co not accidentally scratch the bore. When in doubt, see a competent repairman.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Brenda Siewert
Date: 2001-06-15 15:24
I vote for the "go directly to the repair shop" advice. Ask the repairman how to swab out your particular instrument. Some of my clarinets are harder to swab than others. For some, the register key goes deeper into the inside of the upper joint than others, making swabbing more difficult. But, you don't want to force anything into your instrument, so go to the repair man at once.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: jbutler
Date: 2001-06-15 17:32
This is an easy fix for your repairer. I don't put anything in the bore of the instrument that may damage it. It is easier and safer for the repair tech to remove the register tube and pull the swab through without damage to the instrument.
John
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Ken Shaw
Date: 2001-06-15 19:51
Melanie -
The swab has to come out from the bottom. Repair shops use two types of tools.
The first is a very long, thin pair of pliers, or sometimes a surgeon's straight forceps, You grab the end of the swab and gently pull it back out.
The second is a sort of giant crochet hook used by dressmakers to turn a spagetti strap inside out after the seam is sewn. These are available at home sewing centers.
Still, if the swab is stuck really tight, you should have the removal done at a repair shop, where it will only take a few seconds.
While you're at the shop, get a Gigliotti swab, which has a silk ribbon attached at the bottom that lets you pull it back out if it gets stuck. I've used one for years and never had a jam that I couldn't pull out quickly and easily.
Best regards.
Ken Shaw
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Melanie
Date: 2001-06-16 00:06
Good news everyone!
After reading the first few suggestions, I went ahead and took my clarinet to the shop where the repair guy successfully removed that darned swab. He wouldn't show me the specific tool he used (industry secret, perhaps....oh well), but he said he had to remove the side trill keys and gently feed it back down with a hook-type gadget. Thankfully the register key vent wasn't damaged. You see, apparently my swab had gotten into a loop around the vent, and I finally worked both ends of the swab out of the top of the upper joint, but it was still stuck.
It's out now. I'm a happy camper. Thanks for all of the immediate suggestions! This board is the best!
Melanie
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Todd
Date: 2001-06-16 05:36
Glad the repair guy was able to get it out. I had a cotton swab get stuck in a rehearsal last year. I got it out by bending a paper clip into the shape of a fish hook and then hooking the swab and pulling it back out. I now have a silk swab and I pull it from the barrell to the bell rather than bell to barrel. That way if it gets stuck in the upper joint, there's enough of the swab sticking out of the top of the upper joint to be able to grab it with the fingers and work it back out
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Gordon (NZ)
Date: 2001-06-16 11:26
Oboes are much more difficult because they're so skinny. I use a surgeon's biopsy tool, modified into a tiny grabbing jaw at the end of a long rod, and a few other alternatives. The screw mounted pointing out the end of a woooden rod was a good suggestion. I suppose a straightened, well-barbed fish hook could be used the same way, togethjer with twisting to shruing the swab diameter, as suggested somewhere above. Any tool must be designed such that it has NO chance of scratching the bore. In my opinion working through small tone holes is a fairly high risk method.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: jbutler
Date: 2001-06-16 11:29
Gordon wrote:
"In my opinion working through small tone holes is a fairly high risk method."
I agree.
John
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
The Clarinet Pages
|
 |
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
